Florida Heat
by accidentalsmilez
Summary: Serena Tsukino is your average angst ridden teenager.  Until her entire world comes crashing down.  The week before she turned sixteen on her summer vacation she caught her mom having an affair with the neighbors pool boy, more inside ran out of room
1. Introduction

_Hey everybody! So I've decided to start this story because it's been playing over and over in my head like a rerun. And everyone knows about reruns, so I just decided to start a whole new story and since I've got my laptop back it's all good. As everyone knows I don't own anything except this plot line, and all rights belong to original owners. And this will all be written in Serena's point of view. OH! And Seiya will be in this story too but he's not a bad guy and yeah. So as a wise episode of Loony Tunes once said (actually it's every show they do) now ooooon with show!_

Summary: Serena Tsukino is your average angst ridden teenager. Until her entire world comes crashing down. The week before she turned sixteen on her summer vacation she caught her mom having an affair with the neighbors pool boy, her dad's working all the time, her older brother ran away, and her younger brother is...well nobody knows what his problem is yet. Then she crashes headlong into Darien Shields, where he teaches her about love in the Florida heat.

_Introduction:_

__ Somewhere right now a heart is being broken, a couple is getting married, and a baby is being born. The point is life goes on. Nobody found that out better than my family and I did the summer I turned sixteen. Life before that summer was dreary, some might even say boring. However I realized, it was just a life, and in split seconds that life can be changed.

The summer I turned sixteen was also the summer bad luck struck my little family. The first thing my older brother, Seiya, ran away. He was my entire world; he was my hero, my rock when things were rocky. I looked up to him and one day I went into his room to wake him up for breakfast and he was gone. His room was just like he left it the night before, clothes neatly in a hamper, bed tidily made, and computer off. Mom wanted to file a missing person's report right away, but the police told us we had to wait twenty-four hours before reporting because we could have just made a mistake and he would come back home soon. We hoped so. Twenty-four hours later we filed that report. A day turned into two, two turned into three, days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months and he still wasn't home. I missed him.

Daddy overworked himself in his grief. He was hardly home, and I missed him too. Seiya was his world too, the boy who had it all. He was the quarterback of our football team, had straight A's, a scholarship to Harvard, an amazing girlfriend who's a cheerleader who was also going to Harvard, and a supporting family. Which is why it was difficult to imagine why he would run away. Anyway we all had our ways dealing with the grief. Mom went places and was hardly home, visiting friends, shopping, working, and annoying the police are a few that I can think of. Daddy's was throwing himself into work, I can't remember the last time he worked so much. I saw him only a few times, and each time he looked like he could use a shower, shave and a nice long sleep followed by a three-course meal. The only thing I could think of to describe him was gaunt.

About three weeks after Seiya ran away, I caught my mother cheating on my father with the neighbor's pool boy. Yes the pool boy, who was about ten years younger than she was. I had actually come home from my friend Mina's place early, I was supposed to spend the night but forgot to pack a shirt so I quick ran home to grab a shirt since Mina lived about a block away I could run over to my house really fast instead of having Mom come an give the shirt to me. I should have had her drive over. If I did that at least I wouldn't have Mom begging at my feet not to tell my father, although I knew I should something broke inside of me seeing my mother crying on the floor. Not to say I wasn't angry with her because I was, in fact I was so angry when I caught them I threw a book at the pool boy. A hard-back book about three inches thick, and hit him right in the shoulder. So now I'm glad Daddy doesn't come around often because I don't think I could stand seeing his haunted face and not tell him about Mom, but if I told him I would feel like I was betraying my Mom. See the predicament I have myself into?

My little brother, Samuel Sam for short, is well I hope he's doing okay. The truth is nobody knows. Since Seiya left, he's been, really quiet and kept to himself. I'm not sure if he has any problems. I've been trying to take care of him since Mom and Dad have checked out of the family for a little a while, but it's hard. Especially since some days he'll come home looking all sad and depressed and say he was fine. I'm almost tempted to go into his room and snoop. Even though I know I shouldn't and that it's wrong to invade personal privacy like that. Just like I know I would be really mad if Mom and or Dad did that to me. I'm a big stickler for privacy. Despite all the problems going on at my house, that summer was my favorite, and one that I won't forget for a long time. All because of how Darien Shields crashed into my life. Or I should say how he crashed into mine.


	2. The Meeting

_Hey guys! So how's it going? I realize I just updated/published the story today but I really got excited about the first chapter. I absolutely just love this idea and can't wait to get started with it. So again I own absolutely nothing except this plot line and everything else belongs to any original owners. So read and review. Especially review, because this is my second story, yes, but since I'm not going to do anything with the Sailor Scouts in this one I want to know how that's going to go over. So let me know if you think I should keep going or completely scrap the idea. So on with the show!_

_Chapter One: The Meeting_

It was the first day of summer vacation and it had already reached ninety-nine degrees and it was extremely hot. However I love the heat, and it's a good thing too because I live in Florida where it's pretty much hot year-round. Today I had my hair up in two buntails. It's a word I invented for my special hairstyle I do. The bun parts of the buntails were just like buns and the hair trailing down from them were the pigtail part. I have really long hair since I've been growing it out since I was six years old, and without anything holding it up about three inches of hair is on the ground, and if I put it up into regular pigtails my hair is still to long, so I came up with the idea of buntails. My friends call me ridiculous but I absolutely love the idea. I had on a bright pink bikini top on and white shorts that were covering my bikini bottom. I was headed towards the ocean just for some down time. Mom was home so I took the opportunity to get some alone time, of course Mom demanded to know where I was going, who I was going with, when I was going to be home, so on and so forth. It's not that I blame her, but it gets a little tedious after a little while.

Around this time of year Florida gets a lot of tourists, from all over the place, but our little town was hardly ever busy. Most people had never even heard of Black Diamond Florida, where the population is 818. _**(A.N. Black Diamond is a small town in Florida and the population in 2007 was 818 people. However it is not located by the ocean.) **_It was really small but I made some amazing friends here. Mina, a great friend even if she is a little to perky; Amy, she's the genius; Lita, the cook; and Rei, who is well known for her fiery temper. I absolutely adore them all, and we've been best friends since Kindergarten. Where our town was located it was right next to the ocean so it was easy access to cool off or get some amazing shells.

As I reached the ocean it looked like hardly anybody was there. There were a few people here and there but really it was looked empty. I loved the empty feel. I sat my towel down on the sand. I looked out at the ocean, and grabbed my camera. I took a quick snapshot of the gentle waves. I took my camera and began to walk around the shore. I walked in the wet sand, where every so often a wave would come up and splash on my feet. I wasn't watching where I was going so it didn't come as any surprise when I ran into a person. What came as a surprise to me was that it was me who fell on my butt and not him. I sat in the wet sand stunned for a minute, my camera banging against my chest. I looked up and my jaw dropped. Standing there was probably the most gorgeous guy I'd ever seen. He was about six foot four, with black hair and blue eyes, he wasn't tan exactly but he wasn't pale either. He had on blue swim trunks, without a shirt, and his muscles were the most defined I'd ever seen. I was certain that this guy was in shape, he had at least a six-pack.

"Oh! I'm sorry; I wasn't watching where I was going. Here let me help," he held out his hand for me to pull myself up with.

"No, it's totally my fault. I wasn't watching where I was going," I said standing up and brushing the wet sand off.

"How about this: we accept each other's apology?" He laughed and I smiled. His laugh was infectious and made me want to smile.

"Deal, my name's Serena. What's yours?" I asked.

"Darien."

"I haven't seen you around here, are you visiting?"

Darien gave me a sheepish look, "I wanted to go on vacation somewhere quiet, before the bustle of school started. I looked up small towns in Florida, because I like the heat so much, and this was one of the smallest towns. So here I am."

"Yeah, we're not to big on the tourism industry over here," I gave a little laugh.

"Believe me I noticed. Hey, um, I'm not too familiar with the town yet do you mind showing me around some? Maybe around say two?" he looked so hopeful. I would just have someone come "house-sit" for me and possibly watch Sam while they were there.

"Yeah, I can do that. Do you want to just meet up there," I pointed up where the parking lot is, not a lot of people take cars here but some occasionally do so we have a parking lot, a small one but its still there.

"Sounds great; I'll see you tomorrow," he laughed and headed back up from the way he came. I watched him go, and possibly drooled on myself a little bit.

I half ran half walked to where my towel was and grabbed my cell phone. Now the question was who to call. I couldn't call Amy, she would ask way too many questions, Rei would probably want to meet the guy but I couldn't do that I didn't want to scare the poor guy, Lita worked tomorrow, so that left Mina. I dialed her number and prayed for the best.

"Hello," I heard Mina's voice over the phone and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey Mina it's me. What are you doing tomorrow at two?"

"Oh hey Serena, are the girls getting together? I thought Lita worked."

"She does, but I'm calling in a favor."

"What kind of favor?" she sounded wary.

"The kind where you would house-sit for me but you would be really watching Sam for me because Mom's not going to and a really cute, like beyond cute tourist just asked me to show him around town!" whoops too much information, I didn't want to give that much out.

"Alright, I'll do it but my services won't come cheap," Mina giggled.

"How much is it going to cost me?" I sighed.

"Not one pretty penny, just all the information about this cute guy."

"Deal," I laughed.

"See you tomorrow Serena."

"Bye."

I couldn't wait for tomorrow.


	3. Getting Ready

_Hey everybody! Sorry it's taken so long to update but I had a few projects to work on for school. However here's the second/third chapter. Whichever you want to call it. Oh and I'm not sure if I did a good description of Serena's room. So if you want I can post a link to the picture on my profile. This chapter is going to be a little longer than the lasts because there's so much to this. And I think that's it…. Oh! And all rights belong to any original owners; all I own is this plot line. Oh and review please!_

Summary: Serena Tsukino is your average angst ridden teenager. Until her entire world comes crashing down. The week before she turned sixteen on her summer vacation she caught her mom having an affair with the neighbors pool boy, her dad's working all the time, her older brother ran away, and her younger brother is...well nobody knows what his problem is yet. Then she crashes headlong into Darien Shields, where he teaches her about love in the Florida heat.

_Chapter Two: Getting Ready_

I woke up the next morning cold and wet, well mostly wet. Actually I was soaked. My eyes popped open and I sat straight up in bed and screamed. I jumped out of bed shivering; I turned my eyes around my room to find the culprit. There standing by the head of my bed with a smug grin on her face was Mina.

"Serena you might want to be a little quieter. You could raise the dead with that voice," Mina said walking over to my computer chair and sitting down.

"What are you doing here? And WHY, for the love of all things holy, did you pour water on me!" I think it was safe to say I was furious.

"I shouted your name, Serena, multiple times. When that didn't get the job done, Sam gave me the idea to pour ice water on you. I didn't want to use the ice, so I used cold water in this bucket that your Mom so convieniently had in the bathroom."

"Job!"

"Honey, trying to wake you is like trying to wake the dead," Mina said, glancing down at her perfectly manicured nails.

"Didn't you just say that I could wake the dead myself?" I asked grabbing a spare blanket from my closet to dry off. I would wash it later but for now it would work.

"I did, but I meant with your voice. Not all of us have the set of lungs on us that you do," Mina said. Her tone definitely implied the _duh_.

I shot her a glare, "You never did say why you were here at the god awful time of ten in the morning. You know if I don't sleep in until noon I'm not going to be happy."

"You will be today little missy. I'm helping you get ready for your date today."

"It's not a date Mina, it's just me showing a tourist around town. That's it."

"Yeah, because our town is so big. Get real girl, so since your _just_ showing him around town you'll need something casual. Casual, but girly at the same time. What do you have in your closet?" Mina got up and wandered over to my closet.

"You can not be serious."

"As a heart attack. Oh! Look! Lets wear this. Mina pulled out a midnight blue spaghetti strap shirt. The top of the shirt stopped right above my chest, and the bottom right below my belly button. Along with the shirt she pulled out a pair denim white shorts and black flip-flops, "This will work for what your going to wear."

"Mina what exactly are we going to be doing in three hours."

"Well, your going to shower, then I'm going to use this five-minute facial mask on your face," she held up a small blue package that she just pulled out of her purse, "then you're going to get dressed. Then we get your makeup, that won't take long since you don't need cover up. Then we try and tame that wild mane."

"You're kidding me right? That's why you got me up at ten? So we could do that!"

"Not only. We're going to talk about what you're going to show him. Don't give me that look. Now get in the shower!" Mina gave me a small push out my door.

Thirty-minutes later I was out of the shower and in Mina's "loving care". In other words I was doomed. She slapped the mask into my hand, and I put it on. Mina gave me a magazine to read. It was the new issue of _Seventeen_. I wasn't content, but I could definitely start to see some perks of the date/not date.

"Okay time to take the facial mask off!" Mina declared after the timer went off.

"Alright, alright. Give me a minute." I walked over to the mirror and pulled my mask off and my pores rejuvenated.

"Now the clothes," Mina thrust the clothes at me and I gave a small smile and pointed my hand at the door. Mina rolled her eyes and walked out the room and shut the door. Knowing from past experience that Mina was prone to randomly burst in on her friends I locked the door. I quickly changed, unlocked the door, and let Mina back in. By this time it was eleven and I could understand why Mina wanted to start at that awful time.

"Fabulous! Now that your face is all clean, I can do my magic. I wasn't thinking anything spectacular. Water proof brown mascara, so it blends in and won't run if you happen to decide you want to go for a swim. Oh that reminds me did you put your swimsuit on underneath?"

"No, but I'll do that. What else."

"That was about it. Eyeliner is too much of a pain, and if you go swimming in eye shadow there's always a small chance that it will come off. Lipstick isn't necessary with you because, although this may seem awkward, your lips are pretty pink already. I could use red, but with your complexion it would stand out too much. I think I've already covered the cover-up thing. Maybe lip-gloss, yes you'll definitely wear lip-gloss. I'm a small amount of a light colored lip-gloss…. yes that will do," Mina was off in her own little world, of make-up. Now she's in my make-up drawer, looking for the perfect lip-gloss. I'll just nod and go along with whatever she says. She put on the mascara, and I put on the lip-gloss. Judging by the look on Mina's face I was about to have the age-old argument about my hair.

"Serena, you know I love your hairstyle," Mina began but before she could finish I cut her off.

"No, Mina. We are keeping my hair the way that it is. Besides Darien likes my hair the way it is. He even commented on it," okay so I was stretching the truth. He didn't really give a good compliment but he did say something about it.

"But…"

"NO and that's that Mina," Mina could do whatever she wanted, but she wouldn't touch my hair.

"Fine, you big baby." Mina handed me the hairbrush, and I began to put my hair up in its signature style.

After it was done I looked at my phone and saw it was 1:00. Mina looked over at me and said, "Great now where are you going to take him?"

"I was thinking of taking him to the main parts of town. Show him how to get to and from the ocean the fastest ways. I was going to go to The Crown _**(Authors Note: Some of these places are from the show and some of these places are from my hometown, but none of these are from the actual Black Diamond Town.) **_the last stop. That way we could have milkshakes, and he can meet Andrew."

"Define main parts." Mina said sternly.

"The jewelry shop, The Crown, Annabelle's Attic, First Impressions, The Park, the Rose Gardens in the park, and…I'm not sure where else do you think I should take him?"

"I was thinking the movie theatre and the little bowling alley, and A & M café. Best food in town, but otherwise I like your ideas. Not romantic, at all. Oh, if you do end up showing him Annabelle's Attic tell him about the time when we all went in there when we were fifteen and the lady chased us out screaming your not sixteen yet."

"Ah yes good times," Serena nodded laughing.

"Don't forget, keep your eyes out for Rei. As much as we love her, you and I both know that she will try and get Darien, if he's really as good looking as you say he is." Mina warned.

"I know," I nodded my head. Rei was known for being boy crazy, and she got whatever guy she wanted because she was pretty. I was a little jealous of Rei but not to the point that I absolutely hate her. Our personalities just clash.

"Hey when do you need to meet him?" Mina asked.

"At two by the shore."

"You should go now. It's half an hour until two. If you go now it will take you twenty minutes to get there. That way you won't seem to early, but you won't be late," Mina nodded as if she just gave the worlds best advice.

"Whatever happened to fashionably late?" I laughed at her.

"It was never in. There's o such thing as fashionably late. You want to be there and get your bearings straight so you can be cool and collected. Said so in Seventeen Magazine," Mina clutched the magazine in to her chest.

"Of course, your bible."

"Duh! Now go."

"Thanks Mina. I owe you…even if you did dump water on me," I gave a little laugh. I wasn't angry with her anymore.

"No problem. Now GO!" Mina pointed to my front door. I laughed and walked out the front door, ready to meet Darien.


	4. The Grand Tour

_Hey everybody! Here's the third/fourth chapter. Whichever you want to call it. There's also a surprise guest in here, and I think that it's going to make the story more dramatic! I love drama. This chapter is going to be the longest by far; so I hope you enjoy. I think that's it…. Oh! And all rights belong to any original owners; all I own is this plot line. Oh and review please!_

Summary: Serena Tsukino is your average angst ridden teenager. Until her entire world comes crashing down. The week before she turned sixteen on her summer vacation she caught her mom having an affair with the neighbors pool boy, her dad's working all the time, her older brother ran away, and her younger brother is...well nobody knows what his problem is yet. Then she crashes headlong into Darien Shields, where he teaches her about love in the Florida heat.

_Chapter Three: The Grand Tour_

Just like Mina predicted I arrived at the shore's parking lot ten minutes until two and Darien wasn't here yet. I walked further down the shore where Diana's Snow Cone Cart was, and ordered one small strawberry flavored snow cone. There was a new person working, she had brown hair, and little black beady eyes. She was a head shorter than I was, and had on a white shirt with a red plaid skirt. I nodded at her.

"Hi, my name's Serena. Is Diana here today?"

"I don't care what your name is, just order," she had a nasally sounding voice. I gave her a surprised look.

"Ok then. One strawberry cone please," I asked, polite as can be. This girl was really getting on my nerves.

"Here, that'll be $2.50" she thrust the cone at me, and I shuddered.

"Thanks. Here, keep the change." It was only fifty-cents.

I walked back to the parking lot and noticed Darien was there looking around the pretty empty lot.

"Hey, stranger," I came up behind him and got the delightful pleasure of making him jump.

"Oh! Hey," Darien nodded at me.

"Just went and grabbed a snow cone," I nodded to the cone in my hand.

"Really? They have those here? Can I get one?" he asked, and I laughed and nodded.

"Sure follow me," I led the way back to Diana's, and shuddered as I saw that god-awful girl. I hoped she wasn't going to be rude to Darien.

The rude girl looked up at Darien, saw him, and patted her hair, "Hello! My name is Anne _**(Authors Note: SURPRISE! I couldn't resist. This way it'll make it a little more dramatic to Anne in the story)**_. How can I help you?" The girl, Anne, said.

"Oh…a blueberry snow cone for me please. A medium."

"Not a problem. That will be $3.00 please." Anne said, handing him one.

"Great, umm could I get a couple napkins?" Darien asked.

"Of course you can. Just one second," Anne turned around and was busy for a few minutes. How long does it take to hand a guy a napkin? I mean really? This girl was really getting on my nerves.

"Here you go," Anne, said leaning farther down then _I_ thought was necessary. She twirled her hair around her finger and let out a small giggle that sounded like she was choking on something.

"Thanks. Here's the three dollars I owed you."

"Okay. Come back anytime," Anne said.

"Ready Darien?" I asked sweetly. For the first time Anne truly seemed to realize I was there, and she shot me this really dirty glare. I was reminded of the saying if looks could kill.

"Yeah, lets go. It was greet meeting you Anne," Darien shot her a smile and I felt my blood begin to boil. I had to remind myself that he was spending the afternoon with me and not her.

We walked back down to the parking lot and I said, "So I was thinking we could stop by the main town first. It's not really that big of a town."

"Sounds good to me."

"Great. The first stop Annabelle's Attic since that place is the closest. I have an amazing story to go with that."

"I love a good story," I just laughed at him.

"So where do you go to school?"

"How do you know I go to school?" Darien asked, surprised.

"You mentioned you were here for break. I figured it was school."

"Good guess. I actually go to Harvard," I winced when he said that.

"Ah. An aspiring lawyer."

"Yep. Working to be a defense attorney. Lot's of school, but it's okay, the workload gets to me sometimes."

"I bet. My brother got his acceptance letter from there," I would leave out the part about him running away.

"Really? Maybe I know him." Darien mused.

"No. He's still a senior in high school. I don't think he's going to school there though. Oh hey look the rose gardens! Want to make a detour?" I asked him, switching topics.

"Sure. I love roses; they're my favorite flower. Don't tell anyone I said this, because if you do I'll deny it, but I actually like flowers. I think they would trade in my man card if anyone found out." Darien laughed.

"Maybe, maybe they wouldn't. My favorite roses here are the yellow ones over there. They just scream sunshine. The little pond is over there," I pointed, "I have an interesting story to go along with that one too. If you want to listen to it?"

"I think I would."

"Ok. So my friend, Mina and I were just taking a walk when she dared me to get on that rock right there," there was a little rock, just big enough for one person to stand on a little ways from the edge of the pond, "well I was like okay I'll get on it. So I did, and I just stood there. Mina grabbed her camera, because that was about two years ago and she was really into photography, and took a picture. Well the loud click of the camera apparently scared a bird and the bird squawked. It startled me, I jumped, and fell into the pond."

"No," his eyes widened, and I could tell he was trying to hold in a laugh.

"Yes. Luckily though it wasn't very deep water. So instead of getting a picture of me standing on a rock, Mina got me soaking wet, sitting on my butt in the middle of the pond, with this surprised look on my face. I still have the picture up on my wall."

"That is seriously funny." Darien laughed some more.

"Hey! That water was really cold!"

"I'm sure meatball head."

"What did you just call me?"

"Meatball head. Your hair reminds me of meatballs, and spaghetti."

"Of course you would have food on your mind." I shook my head.

"Not really. I'm still enjoying this delicious snow cone," he lifted the cone to his mouth and ate some. I frowned a little at him, but shook my thoughts of Anne away.

"Of course you are. Come on. Let's head to Annabelle's." I led him back to the main road that led straight through town.

"So tell me about your brother. You seemed really close to him." Darien observed.

I winced, to hide my pain I said, "Ah, well sort of. We have the typical brother sister relationship. Now that he's going to college. Things should ease up," so I told a white lie. He'll find out soon enough, but I'm not going to tell him.  
"Yeah, I'm sure."

"So what about you? Why are you down here when you could be visiting your parents?" I asked.

I saw him shift, and he looked down at his snow cone, "My parents died in a car crash when I was seven."

"Oh! I'm sorry," stupid Serena. Now look he's going to feel bad.

"Nah, it was a really long time ago. So what about your parents."

Well, that's a nasty topic for me, "Married, live in one house, have three kids…anything else you want to know?"

"Ha, ha. Funny girl. Are you close with them?"

"You could say I'm they're secret keeper." I laughed at my inside joke. Though really it wasn't that funny.

"Oh really?"

"Yep. Oh look! We're here," I pointed to a small shop, in between to other shops. It had two windows on the large side, displaying some of the fancier items. It was a large brick building, and above the doors in big blue lettering **Annabelle's Attic.** I laughed at his expression.

"So what's the story with this one?" Darien looked at me.

I laughed, "Well I went in here with friends one day, when I was about twelve, and this old lady behind the counter, Annabelle, looked at us with beady black eyes, and she had pure white hair, and she had on these little old granny glasses. She stood up, grabbed her cane, and shouted 'you kids can't come in here! You're not sixteen! Get out of my store!' Then she chased us out with her cane flying in the air. It was the most hilarious thing to witness."

Darien was cracking up, in between breaths he said, "She…chased…you."

"Yep. Oh and there's the jewelry store. I was about six, and my mom was over here at Annabelle's and I had this plastic blue ring. The jeweler looks at me, goes 'Where's your mom Serena?' 'In the store' I replied. 'Well, what can I do for you?' 'Clean this. Sammy through it in the mud.' The jeweler smiles, takes the blue ring, turns around for about ten minutes, and he hands it back to me 'Good as new.' And he had gotten the mud off. I didn't realize at the time, but he just took a rag and wiped it off."

"That's cute," Darien smiled, his cute little smile.

"Yeah. Well, you already saw the park. It's the only park here. It was the park next to the gardens?"

"Yeah, I remember seeing it."

"I think the only thing left to show you is The Crown."

"The Crown?" Darien asked.

"It's a place where teenagers hang out. It serves food, and there's an arcade inside. Andrew and his sister, Lizzie, work after they're done with class. Lizzie's my age, and Andrew's a freshman in college. Their parents own the Crown, and it's a good place to go to get a shake."

"Sounds like fun."

"So where are you from?" I asked as I led him down the familiar path to the arcade.

"I'm originally from New York _**(Authors Note: When I was first watching the show I thought the story took place in New York instead of Japan. So I thought I would just throw that in there.)**_." Darien said.

"Really? New York? Big place."

"Yeah, I lived in New York City. There was always something going on. I went to the local high school, and studied hard. I didn't have a lot of money, and no family, so I had to work hard to get a scholarship to Harvard. I've always wanted to go there. Become a defense attorney, so I can help people. Defend the innocent, and all that."

"Heroic." I said giggling slightly. He gave me a wry smile.

"I guess. Is that it?" he pointed to the arcade.

"Yeah how could you guess?" I laughed. Andrew's parents were never one to do things have way. The building was made of stone, but in big yellow letters above the glass sliding doors were the words _The Crown_.

"Call me lucky," he laughed. I smiled at him.

"Hey, Andrew!" I called to him. I did a quick sweep to see if any of the girls were here. They weren't thank god. I could handle almost anybody but Rei. I love her to death, but sometimes…

"Hey Serena," Andrew called, "Whose that?"

"This is Darien…I'm sorry I don't know your last name."

"Shields," Darien supplied.

"Pleasure to meet you, Darien. I'm Andrew," Andrew said. Andrew was a tall, lanky guy with reddish blonde hair. He had soft, baby blue eyes, and a light complexion. He was funny, and smart, he was also a close friend of mine.

"I'll take my usual, Andrew, please," I smiled at him. Andrew rolled his eyes.

"Ok, and for you?" Andrew looked at Darien.

"I guess I'll have…a…small strawberry shake."

"Coming right up. It'll be a minute."

"No problem. Why don't you have a seat somewhere, and I'll bring your drinks over."

"Alright, how's over there?" I nodded at a table near the back.

"Sure," Darien shrugged.

"Well…well…well. What do you have here?" I froze. I knew that voice. That was Rei.


	5. Rei

_Hey everybody! Here's the fourth/fifth chapter. Whichever you want to call it. So Rei gets introduced in this chapter. I'm going to change her character just a little, but she's going to be more like she was in the very first few episodes of the show. I think that's it…. Oh! And all rights belong to any original owners; all I own is this plot line. Oh and review please!_

Summary: Serena Tsukino is your average angst ridden teenager. Until her entire world comes crashing down. The week before she turned sixteen on her summer vacation she caught her mom having an affair with the neighbors pool boy, her dad's working all the time, her older brother ran away, and her younger brother is...well nobody knows what his problem is yet. Then she crashes headlong into Darien Shields, where he teaches her about love in the Florida heat.

_Chapter Four: Rei_

"Well…well…well. What do you have here?" I froze. I knew that voice. That was Rei.

"Hey Rei," I said, trying to hide my panic. This was exactly what I didn't want to happen, because I knew Rei would want him. Who wouldn't? With his midnight blue colored eyes, black as night colored hair, and he was tall. Of course everyone was tall compared to me.

"Hi, Serena. My name's Rei, and you are?" I watched in mild horror as she put her perfectly manicured hand, in front of him to shake his hand.

Darien shot me a weird look, "My name's Darien Shields. It's…nice to meet you."

"Oh it's such a _pleasure_ to meet you," Rei purred. I resisted the urge to smack her, "Serena, where ever did you meet _him_?"

"I actually, I met him yesterday," the door to the arcade opened, and a frantic Mina rushed in. When she saw, Darien, Rei, and I she got this look on her face that said _Oh I'm in trouble._ And she was. She so was in trouble for not keeping Rei away.

"Really you didn't tell me about him," Rei gave a flirty smile and twirled her hair around her finger.

"I have to go to the restroom. Darien will you be alright with Rei for a moment?" Darien briefly nodded, confused, and Mina grabbed my hand, " Great, Serena come with me."

When we got to the restroom I rounded on her, "_Mina_ you were supposed to keep Rei away! Not lead straight to the source!"

"I tried! But she wanted a milkshake, but when I said my excuses she didn't believe me. Called me out that I was hiding something, which made her more determined to get here, and then ran out of my house and to the arcade. When I got here I saw that she was talking to, Darien and you."

"Yeah, well, now we've got a problem," I really didn't want Rei around, especially after my run in with _Anne_. So I'm a little possessive and jealous. I wanted to spend the afternoon with him, not becoming a third wheel to Rei and him.

"I know. Ok, we have to hurry this up, because the longer your not fresh in his mind, the faster Rei can sink her claws into him."

"I know, but how am I going to get her away from him? She's already got her pointy little falcon claws sunk into him!" I whined.

"Quit your whining, first of all!" Mina ordered. I gave her a shocked look.

"I do not whine!" I said indignantly.

"Yes you do. Now, second put on a perfect smile. Become cool and collected. You need to relax, show them that you don't really care-even if you do," Mina gave me a serious look.

"But…" I started to say, but Mina's glare got me to shut up.

"No buts. Now get going girl! Remember perfect smile! I need to come up with a name for us…how about…team love!" Mina exclaimed. I shot her a weird look, and calmly walked out the door. Rei was latched onto Darien's arm, still, but he was looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Hello, sorry I was gone so long. I decided to bail come out when Mina started singing," I said softly appearing in front of them.

"Oh…that's all right," said Darien, relief apparent in his voice. Rei noticed this too, and she shot me a glare. A back of he's mine glare, I narrowed my eyes right back at her, Mina's advice going out the window. In a battle over a guy, a girl would hold nothing back.

I shot a fake smile Rei's way, "I think Andrew has our milkshake's ready, Darien, why don't we sit down." I saw Rei's face tighten for a fraction of a second, and then she smiled.

"Oh! Why don't I join you?" Rei invited herself in. I knew Rei was used to inviting herself to do things if nobody asked her, but I figured she would understand the girl code. One of the rules: never try and claim a guy that was already taken.

"Oh Rei, what about grabbing a shake to go, so we could go to the beach and wander around?" Mina asked, stepping in from behind me.

Rei gave a sort of stunned look, "Mina, I've been going to the beach with you for years. Darien just got here; I hope you understand."

Darien gave Rei and Mina a weird look and said, "Rei, I'll be staying for a while. Go with your friend that you already made plans with. It'd be rude to cancel." I shot Darien a victory smile.

Rei gave a stunned look at him. She then turned her gaze to me, and gave me a look that could kill. What was it about this guy that made friends turn on each other? Rei gave a little huff, "Fine. Mina, let's grab our milkshake's and go. I haven't given Andrew our order yet, because I figured we would stay and hang out with Serena…and Darien," Rei purred. It didn't have quite the same effect when she was angry. I wanted to laugh at her, when Darien got this disgusted look on his f ace. Rei, however, did not see as she was already headed toward the counter to give Andrew, Mina's and hers order.

Darien turned to me and said, "That Rei, is one scary girl."

I started to laugh, "Yes, yes she is."

Andrew called, "Serena your milkshakes are up!"

Darien held his arm out, "Shall we?"

I smiled at him, "We shall."


	6. Accident

_Hey everybody! Here's the fifth/sixth chapter. Whichever you want to call it. I'm sorry I haven't updated for a while. I wanted to get my other story up and running, and then I had a dance, and work, and a lack of sleep problem. This chapter's going to be shorter than the others. Sorry about that, but I just want to get something down on yeah I think that's it…. Oh! And all rights belong to any original owners; all I own is this plot line. Oh and review please!_

Summary: Serena Tsukino is your average angst ridden teenager. Until her entire world comes crashing down. The week before she turned sixteen on her summer vacation she caught her mom having an affair with the neighbors pool boy, her dad's working all the time, her older brother ran away, and her younger brother is...well nobody knows what his problem is yet. Then she crashes headlong into Darien Shields, where he teaches her about love in the Florida heat.

Chapter Five: An Accident

Darien and I were laughing. Yes full out laughing, and it had nothing to do with the fact that he was covered in strawberry-milkshake. Well maybe it had to do with that a little. Just a little.

After we had decided to have a good time on out NON-date, we were on our way back to our table when it happened. When the unthinkable happened. I tripped. That would have been fine, but I had my milkshake in my hand…and I fell onto Darien. Effectively spilling all of my delicious milkshake onto Darien's head. My face was bright red, tomato red, and I didn't think it could get worse. I was sure I would never see it again, after he blew up at me that is. He did what I didn't expect him too.

He laughed, a full blown belly laugh that was completely infectious. I started laughing along with him, until we were both laughing on the floor. Sure we were getting strange looks, but who cared! We were young, we were having fun, and if we got thrown out for laughing too much, well then we got thrown out for laughing. If that happened we would probably just laugh some more. Andrew was looking at us as if we had lost our minds. Probably. I don't remember laughing so hard since…NO. I refused to think about him. I refused to have _him_ bring me down.

Eventually we stopped laughing, and calmed down. I offered to get Darien a towel from the supply closet. He would be surprised at how often this would happen. He nodded and was grateful. I went and grabbed a blue towel that reminded me of Darien's eyes.

"Here you go," I handed him the towel, "I'm really sorry by the way."

"It's no big deal. Accidents do happen. Good thing I'm not allergic to strawberry," Darien teased. I let out a horrified squeak. What if he was allergic to strawberries! He could totally sue me! Then Daddy would be disappointed! Then Mom…well I don't really care what she thought of me, especially since _Taiki_, the Japanese pool boy from next door.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive, but I OH! Look at the time!" Darien glanced at the clock. It was a little after four.

"What's wrong?" I asked, a little panicked.

"I have to meet my aunt in an hour. She hates it when I'm late. I'm so sorry, I lost track of time. Can I get your number and I'll call you tonight when I get back? I feel so bad." He felt bad. I felt terrible that I had spilled strawberry milkshake all over him an hour before he had to meet his aunt.

"It's no problem my number is 1-999-999-999. Anytime after ten is okay to call," I said.

"Okay my number is 1-000-000-000. I'll call you tonight. Can I get your picture?" Darien asked, showing me that he had a camera on the back of his phone.

"Yeah sure." I posed and he snapped the photo. I took one of him in return.

"Thanks I had a great time." Darien smiled.

"I did too. Thanks." I was surprised when Darien gave me a hug, before he walked out of the arcade. It was official. I had a crush.


End file.
